Microsoft: Sasser bounty hinges on conviction

The 18-year-old suspected virus writer has been charged with sabotage, but no court date has yet been set for his arraignment, according to an antivirus expert familiar with the case.

The progress of German police in the case heartened Hemanshu Nigam, head of Microsoft's Anti-Virus Reward Program, a $5 million pool for rewarding people who ferret out those who release viruses and worms.

"This is a great step forward," said Nigam, a corporate attorney and the primary liaison between the software giant and law enforcement. "This is the first time that charges have been filed in a virus case as a result of the Anti-Virus Reward Program."

Spotlight

By working with the DevOps team, you can ensure that the production environment is more predictable, auditable and more secure than before. The key is to integrate your security requirements into the DevOps pipeline.

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In this interview, Raj Samani, VP and CTO EMEA at Intel Security, talks about successful information security strategies aimed at the critical infrastructure, government challenges, the role of regulation, and more.